Mobile and Technology

The rise of smartphones with browsers which can both display desktop sites and make it easy for users to interact with them has been a significant development. The travel industry expects mobile usage to continue to increase as the browsers get better.

Published: 31 Aug 2010

The rise of smartphones with browsers which can both display desktop sites and make it easy for users to interact with them has been a significant development. The travel industry expects mobile usage to continue to increase as the browsers get better.

As more and more leisure travellers download travel-related applications on to their smartphones, one of the most intriguing questions facing travel service marketers today: how are travellers using these devices to plan, purchase and share information about both destinations and travel service suppliers?

According to the results of a new survey, around 19 percent have downloaded a travel-related application (app) to their smartphone.

The Ypartnership / Harrison Group 2010 Portrait of American Travellers survey, featuring 2,524 U.S. households, assessed the impact of the current economic environment, social values and media habits on the travel habits of Americans with an annual household income of $50,000 or more.

Key findings:

• Among them, nearly one-half have navigated a destination using the built-in GPS functionality (47 percent) or searched for the latest information on flight schedules and delays (46 percent).
• Nearly three in 10 have compared airfares or hotel rates (29 percent) or shared information or photos about their travel experiences (28 percent) using their smart phone.
• Approximately one in six has booked air travel or lodging (18 percent) or viewed a virtual visitor guide that provides information on things to do and see while visiting a destination (15 percent).
• Finally, more than one in ten (11 percent) has used their smart phone to download and redeem mobile coupons, while one in 20 (six percent) has downloaded an audio walking tour of a specific destination.

“Clearly, mobile devices are destined to play an increasingly important role in the distribution and sale of travel services in years ahead,” said Peter C. Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership. “Both shopping and more real-time engagement in the discovery of what a destination has to offer are likely to rival talking and texting in the years ahead.”

Trend

An ever-increasing proportion of European smartphone owners are using applications – some 44 percent in May 2010 – with 64 percent of those who used a travel application having a smartphone. This growth, according to comScore, in all types of mobile application use offers an ever-broadening opportunity for the travel industry to engage with consumers in creative ways that deliver significant value.

According to comScore, the growth in highly capable smartphones in the market has helped to drive consumer interaction with travel services via their mobile phones: whilst accounting for only 25 percent of the installed base of active phones in Europe, 54 percent of consumers accessing travel services did so from a smartphone in May 2010.

The number of European consumers accessing travel services via smartphones grew by 125 percent year-on-year to May 2010.

Recently, in an interview with EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta, Jeremy Copp, vice president, Mobile Europe, comScore, shared that around 26m European mobile users accessed maps on their device in May 2010, with the availability of free navigation systems fuelling a 100 percent year-on-year growth in this number. This increased use of mobile devices whilst travelling offers a growing opportunity for the travel industry to engage with consumers through their phones for marketing and to offer relevant, localised services.

“Our data shows that 9.8m Europeans accessed travel information via their mobile in May 2010, representing 4.3 percent of European mobile users. The most popular method of access is through mobile Internet sites with nearly 60 percent (5.8m) engaging through their browser. The next most popular access method is through SMS followed by mobile applications; European consumers were almost 3 times as likely to accessed travel services via a browser, compared to an application. However, accessing travel sites via application is growing fastest of the three methods when compared to one year ago,” said Copp.

Overall, according to Copp, there is significant growth in the use of travel planning and booking services by European mobile users – usage of Lastminute.com and Expedia combined grew 96 percent year-on-year to May 2010 but still only accounted for 1.2 percent of all mobile consumers. This indicates that there is still considerable opportunity for expansion in services for travel planning and booking via mobile phones.

Room for growth

In April this year, web analytics company Compete used its ability to field behaviorally targeted surveys to ask smartphone owners about their use of these devices for travel research and booking.

Most respondents said they do not currently use smartphones at all for online research (69 percent do not) and booking (78 percent do not). About one in four use both mobile and traditional computing for research and booking, with a greater share doing research on both vs. booking on both. But smartphones remain an additional tool, not a replacement tool as scant few respondents reported that today they do all their research and booking on mobile devices. As smartphones evolve and applications for them become more tailored, use for travel is certainly likely to increase. However, consumers may be most ready for post-booking help from their smartphones.

According to Compete, if the fastest growth in smartphone use reflects the desire for new, helpful applications, then post-booking use will evolve faster. This makes sense since it takes advantage of the combination of power and portability inherent in smartphones and needed when away from home. That also means that post-booking needs and related applications to address those needs will influence the ultimate adoption of pre-booking travel smartphone use and set user expectations around ease of use and performance.

Copp says there has been a significant growth in the use of travel planning and booking services by European mobile users – usage of Lastminute.com and Expedia combined grew 96 percent year-on-year to May 2010 but still only accounted for 1.2 percent of all mobile consumers. This indicates that there is still considerable opportunity for expansion in services for travel planning and booking via mobile phones.

Online Marketing and Social Media Strategies for Travel Summit Europe 2010

Jeremy Copp, vice president, Mobile Europe, comScore is scheduled to speak at the forthcoming two-day Online Marketing and Social Media Strategies for Travel Summit Europe 2010 (5-6, October) to be held in Prague.

For more information, click here

Or contact:
Gina Baillie
VP Global Marketing & Events
EyeforTravel
London, UK: +44 (0)207 375 7197
gina@eyefortravel.com